A recent op-ed piece by Thomas Friedman, of The New York Times, discusses the current state of neglect that our system of education is facing. According to Mr. Friedman, while the erosion of our education system has happened gradually over the past 30 years, due to lack of funding the deterioration is accelerating. For example, the college graduation rate in the U.S. in now slightly below the average across all industrialized economies. In addition, because of the recent economic slowdown, more than 143,000 state and local education jobs have been lost or eliminated over just the past five months.

While we are facing very difficult economic times at the moment, and cuts are being made across government, Mr. Friedman asks us to ask ourselves the question "Is it wise to continue making these kinds of cuts in education when the future prosperity of our society is so heavily dependent upon a highly educated workforce?"